A Rose
by Ange Noir
Summary: All humans must age. Even Hideki...


**Ange:** So this is my first Chobits even though I've read through the manga and anime countless times. Even when I attempt to update, it never goes according to plan.

**Disclaimer:** I just wanted to dabble in a drabble but all I did is babble…

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A Rose

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Everyday he is dying.

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Hideki is dying.

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Truthfully all humans are suffering the same fate. But Chi didn't know all humans. She only knows Hideki, only Hideki.

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And he's dying.

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Freya once told her that humans lived to die. Each breath they took brought them that much closer to their final rest. It brought them that much closer to the moment when their hearts will cease to be as their breath escapes out of their still lips. It is the curse of humanity and just as inescapable.

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The short lifespan of a human can be so bleak.

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Chi didn't want to accept this but how could she do otherwise? The changes so minute, added up day by day. The little evidences showed the passing of time, the aging of her Hideki.

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First there were the creases around his mouth that never went away.

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"They tell how many times you made me smile," he explained away in an attempt to fend off her fears.

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But then the crow's feet appeared on the corner of his eyes.

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"It helps me look distinguished," he said before silencing her with a kiss.

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His face is rougher to the touch though and there are wrinkles that weren't there yesterday.

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"But don't you think it makes me look more rugged?"

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It was only when the grey hairs started showing that he stopped trying to cover everything up.

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More and more of them kept appearing, replacing the jet black ones of his youth. How long before greys turned white? Would that be the time limit of his life?

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Chi thought it couldn't get any worse. She tried to accept it all but it was hard, truly hard. She turned from wife to nurse, shadowing his steps to protect his brittle bones and delicate skin.

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Even so she still loved her Hideki, but it was with this love that his descent into old age made it so much worse. She began to hate her mechanical form which will be stuck forever in a time that Hideki can never return to.

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A time she wished back with all her being.

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Gradually Hideki began forgetting the simple things. Where did he put his keys? What house did he live in? How old was he?

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What was his name?

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Chi accepted it all with a smile, a smile that showed more pain than understanding. Life went on as normal as it can with a romantic relationship between a persocom and an aging human.

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It was when Hideki was put on bed rest that Chi's worse blow came to her. She was replacing the flowers besides Hideki's bed, carnations they are his favorite, when his fragile hand enclosed around her metallic wrist.

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"Can you call my wife for me, Chi," he asked, "I can use the company."

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Chi looked into his eyes in despair. The smile that she had at the ready for him slipping completely.

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"But Hideki I am your wife," she reminded him earnestly wanting him to remember on his own.

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"Is that so," he remarked looking into her face like you would into a stranger. A gaze of impartial kindness, of indulgence even. "Then can you tell me your name dear?"

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Chi blinked back tears that could never fall from her face, "Chi's name is Chi." She said plainly.

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"Is that so," he repeated distractively the conversation probably wiped from his memory already.

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She just stared down at him uncomprehending what was happening, the flowers bruising in her clutched fingers. But Hideki didn't notice and he paid no further attention his eyes drawn to the widow by his bed. Soon his breathing evened out as he fell into a light doze, a small smile playing on his face.

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Perhaps he was dreaming of a wife he thought he had, dreaming of a wife that wasn't her.

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Chi still stared trying to grasp this all, trying to mentally go back into a simpler time when Hideki was young as she and loved her like no other.

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"Chi's name is Chi," she whispered into the silent room.

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"Hideki loves Chi because Chi is your wife."

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"Hideki?" she asked brokenly as she stroked the graying hairs on his head. "Hideki?" she questioned as her voice heightened in desperation.

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Hideki is dying and there isn't anything she could do. But worse than that,

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Hideki had forgotten everything about her…

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Everything about his Chi.

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A/N: Reviews? So um my Chi turned out much more mature than I planned. Well I guess time can wizen up even persocoms.


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